When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

When Jiang Mo awoke, her head was still somewhat foggy. The alarm clock beside her bed rang incessantly, making her headache worse. She helplessly rubbed her forehead with one hand while the other fumbled around the bedside table until she finally found her phone and turned off the alarm.

She closed her eyes for a moment to recover, but remembering she had to go to work today, Jiang Mo reluctantly opened them again.

This time the foggy feeling in her head had eased considerably. She turned and sat up on the bed, staring at her familiar bedroom in a daze—she felt as if she had forgotten something, but after careful reflection, she couldn't recall what it was. This situation wasn't particularly strange; she often forgot what happened in her dreams after waking up and would experience this same disoriented feeling.

After clearing her mind a bit, Jiang Mo unlocked her phone and realized that her brief daze had consumed nearly half an hour. The time to prepare for work was becoming increasingly limited. She hurriedly got up to wash, and while brushing her teeth, she noticed a strange sense of unfamiliarity when looking at herself in the bathroom mirror.

What was going on? Had sleeping muddled her brain?

Jiang Mo paused while brushing her teeth but quickly remembered she was running late, so she pushed that vague feeling of strangeness to the back of her mind.

Fortunately, she moved quickly. Washing up and changing clothes took only about ten minutes before she was ready and rushed out the door, not departing much later than her usual time. When leaving the residential complex, she didn't forget to buy breakfast from the familiar breakfast stand at the entrance. Today, however, she had no time to sit and eat leisurely, so she had to take her breakfast with her on the crowded subway.

Thankfully, the subway never gets stuck in traffic, and she arrived at work on time—just like every other day. Her colleagues greeted each other and chatted while preparing for work, the familiar scene somehow tinged with unfamiliarity.

Perhaps because strange emotions had surfaced too many times this morning, Jiang Mo didn't pay much attention to it. She finished her breakfast during a break, and soon it was time to start work.

As usual, the morning began with a team meeting. The department manager was droning on about something at the front, but Jiang Mo wasn't really listening. She seemed to be lost in thought until the colleague beside her nudged her arm. When she came back to her senses, she noticed another person standing beside the department manager who had been speaking—it was a beautiful woman with delicate features and a cool temperament. When her clear, glassy eyes swept over the room, people could feel the pressure.

Her colleagues had been whispering among themselves, but when the woman's gaze swept over them, all voices abruptly ceased. Even the colleague next to Jiang Mo who had nudged her lowered their head under those glassy eyes, showing signs of timidity and weakness.

At this moment, in the entire meeting room, apart from the manager and the woman at the front, only Jiang Mo still held her head up.

She was very bold. When everyone else couldn't withstand the pressure and lowered their heads, she alone remained unmoved. Or rather, not only was she unmoved, she even boldly met the gaze of those glassy eyes. The woman had a cool temperament—although not as cold and unapproachable as an ice mountain, she appeared at first glance like a flower on a high cliff, emanating distance and inaccessibility.

Everyone felt this way upon first seeing the woman, except for Jiang Mo. When she met those cool, distant, beautiful glassy eyes, she didn't feel the slightest fear. Instead, she felt a different kind of closeness.

As if those eyes didn't convey coolness, but gentleness, and their owner was equally a gentle person...

After the meeting, Jiang Mo told a close colleague about this, her eyes unusually bright. After hearing her, the colleague looked at Jiang Mo as if seeing a ghost, then reached out to feel her forehead, suspecting she was delirious with fever.

Jiang Mo didn't have a fever, but she was indeed quite confused today. She watched herself push away her colleague's hand and asked, "By the way, who exactly is that person? Is she our new colleague?"

Hearing this, her colleague's face was full of exasperation: "So you were completely lost in thought during the meeting, which is why you had that misconception?"

Jiang Mo smiled sheepishly, rubbing her forehead. "I might have caught a cold earlier. My head was a bit foggy when I woke up this morning, and I was lost in thought during the meeting too." She continued to ask, "So, you still haven't told me who that person is. Is she a new colleague?"

Her colleague shook their head: "She's the new boss. Didn't you know our manager is being transferred?"

Jiang Mo nodded in understanding, which explained why her colleague had appeared so intimidated earlier. But even after hearing that the woman was their new superior, she didn't find anything particularly frightening about her. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "Do you know what her name is?" As she asked this, she instinctively felt the woman's surname should be Yun. Although she hadn't heard the woman's self-introduction, she somehow felt this surname suited her.

Sure enough, her colleague said, "Her surname is Yun, and her name is Yun Qingyue."

Jiang Mo thought the name sounded familiar, but she was more pleased about having guessed correctly. Before she could smile, her colleague continued, "I've heard about her before. She has a cold personality and isn't easy to approach. But she seems to have graduated from the same university as you, and you're not that many years apart. Did you perhaps meet her at school before, which is why you're not afraid of her?"

What a coincidence?

Jiang Mo tried hard to recall, but she had graduated several years ago and couldn't remember much from her school days. She didn't remember someone like this from her university, but the name did sound familiar. Perhaps she had indeed seen or heard of her at school.

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For the rest of the day, Jiang Mo couldn't remember what she had been busy with; she only remembered those beautiful glassy eyes occasionally popping up in her mind. She spent the entire day in a daze until she heard at the end of the workday that the new boss was treating the entire department to dinner—it seemed that someone rumored to be cold wasn't completely ignorant of social customs, or perhaps she was truly gentle at heart?

Regardless of what Jiang Mo thought, her colleagues were happy to be treated to a meal. Moreover, having a boss who understood social customs was certainly better than having a cold, unapproachable superior.

So after work, everyone first went to a restaurant for a hearty meal, then moved to a bar for drinks and fun.

Jiang Mo's alcohol tolerance was average, and usually when out, she would avoid drinking if possible. Fortunately, her department rarely required socializing, so she didn't have to worry about this. However, today, perhaps it was a case of the alcohol not intoxicating the person but the person intoxicating themselves, or perhaps it was because she kept staring at Yun Qingyue absent-mindedly, but Jiang Mo unconsciously drank a bit and her mind became foggy.

She sat next to Yun Qingyue, chin in hand, staring at her continuously. Fortunately, although Yun Qingyue appeared cool, she had a good temperament and didn't seem offended by the staring. When Jiang Mo spoke to her, she would respond.

Going back and forth, the two became familiar with each other, or at least Jiang Mo unilaterally felt they had become familiar. With the added courage from the alcohol, Jiang Mo moved closer to Yun Qingyue, her chin almost resting on the other's shoulder. "Senior Sister, can I call you Senior Sister? I heard we graduated from the same university, and you're a few years older than me..."

Yun Qingyue didn't push her away. Through her drunken haze, Jiang Mo felt those glassy eyes looking back at her did indeed contain a familiar gentleness.

The cool voice soon responded, Yun Qingyue's tone seemingly tinged with both helplessness and indulgence: "You may. But you cannot call me that at the company, only in private."

Call her Senior Sister in private?

Jiang Mo was a bit happy, nodding her head, her chin completely resting on Yun Qingyue's shoulder. A familiar cool fragrance enveloped her, filling her nostrils. It wasn't any perfume scent she knew, but it was very pleasant, drawing her unconsciously closer to the other's neck.

This time she was finally pushed away, but not before catching a glimpse of the white earlobe of the person in front of her, tinged with a slight crimson.

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Time passed quickly, and several months had gone by since meeting Yun Qingyue.

These months were both peaceful and turbulent for Jiang Mo. She still lived her regular life of going to work and coming home, but since meeting Yun Qingyue, ripples had appeared in her calm life.

On workdays, she would arrange to have lunch with Yun Qingyue during breaks, and on days off, she would invite her to go shopping or watch movies together... Life was calm and comfortable. The two were like kindred spirits who had met too late, getting along like close friends or confidantes. They even bought a cat together, and because of Jiang Mo's small jealousy—not wanting Yun Qingyue to raise other cats—they kept it at her home.

The strangeness of that morning several months ago had long been forgotten by Jiang Mo. She had a new worry—she realized she had developed feelings for Yun Qingyue, not the kind of liking between friends, but the kind where she wanted the other to be her girlfriend!

Jiang Mo was surprised by her own feelings, yet somehow not that surprised.

It didn't take her long to process this fact, and then she began to worry, concerned that Yun Qingyue might not accept her feelings. She hesitated and wavered, thinking about maintaining the status quo, but all her restraint broke down over a bouquet of roses for a confession—not her confessing to Yun Qingyue, nor Yun Qingyue confessing to her, but someone else confessing to Yun Qingyue.

Yun Qingyue was beautiful, highly capable at work, and came from a good family background. It wasn't at all surprising that someone would confess their feelings to her. Or rather, she had never lacked suitors; it was just that few people were so direct.

This time, Yun Qingyue ultimately didn't accept the confession, but Jiang Mo was still stirred by it.

That weekend, she mustered her courage and also bought a bouquet of roses, confessing her feelings to Yun Qingyue.

Yun Qingyue looked at her with utter astonishment, clearly surprised to receive her confession. But in the end, she was gentle; she accepted the bouquet of roses, neither agreeing nor refusing, only saying, "I need to think about it. I'll give you an answer on Monday."

Even with such a response, Jiang Mo was happy. Not being directly rejected meant she still had a chance to pursue her.

They didn't talk much or spend much time together that weekend, parting quickly.

Jiang Mo went home and tossed and turned for two days, finally waiting for Monday with a heart both expectant and nervous. That day, she woke up very early while it was still dark, got ready, took unusual care with her appearance, then left to take transportation to the company.

She was eager to get an answer, yet afraid that after careful consideration, the other might ultimately refuse... She stood by the roadside looking at the company across the street, feeling both nervous and hesitant. Seeing the green pedestrian light come on at the crosswalk, she finally summoned her courage to step forward toward the other side.

A few moments later, a loud "bang" sounded.

Jiang Mo's body was lifted into the air, and her vision began to spin, one moment seeing the sky, the next the ground. Soon she fell heavily to the ground, familiar excruciating pain engulfing her entire body. The last thing she saw was a somewhat familiar sports car speeding away.